Apr 26, 2018

How many mainstream media outlets covering the peace summit between North Korea and South Korea, will give President Trump the credit he deserves for making the historic meeting happen?

South Korea’s foreign minister has said she believes President Donald Trump is largely responsible for bringing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the negotiating table.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s historic summit between the leaders of North and South Korea, Kang Kyung-wha told CNN that the US President had played a significant role in bringing the two sides together.

“Clearly, credit goes to President Trump,” Kang told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Seoul. “He’s been determined to come to grips with this from day one.”

Kim will become the first North Korean leader to cross the Military Demarcation Line between North and South Korea on Friday for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. President Trump is expected to meet with Kim in May or June. –CNN

With carefully calibrated pomp and ceremony, the leaders of the two Koreas met Friday morning in the Demilitarized Zone for a summit that could mark a historic turning point in one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints.

At 9:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. Thursday ET), North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walked across the line separating the two Koreas and met South Korean President Moon Jae-in with smiles and handshakes.

Kim wrote in the visitor’s log at the Peace House before the start of the inter-Korean summit. “The new history starts from now on. At this starting point of the history of the era peace,” the entry reads, according to an NBC translation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, from left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in walk together through a honor guard at the border village of Panmunjom on April 27, 2018.Korea Summit Press Pool via AP

With North Korea’s nuclear weapons program having reached what American policymakers describe as a critical stage, expectations are high that the summit with Moon and Kim will lay the foundation for reduced tensions between Pyongyang, the North’s capital, and Washington. –NBC News

Watch Kim Jong Un and President Moon meet in the video below:

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un crosses inter-Korean border to begin summit meeting with South Korean President Moon. It is the first time a member of the Kim dynasty has set foot on southern soil since the end of the Korean War in 1953. pic.twitter.com/DdDqzkYzpA

Upon their initial meeting, Moon and Kim shook hands with the border line between them. Moon then invited Kim to cross into the South, and, after he did so, Kim grasped Moon’s hand and led him into the North and then back into the South. They took a ceremonial photo facing the North and then another photo facing the South.

Moon and Kim were set to plant a pine tree together on the borderline, using dirt from both the North and South’s mountains and rivers, before beginning formal talks.

They also were expected to discuss ways to both improve relations and settle the 1950-53 Korean War, which was halted with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Kim said he was ready for “heartfelt, sincere and honest” discussions with Moon, adding the Koreas shouldn’t repeat past situations where they were “unable to fulfill our agreements.”

The White House said in a statement, “We wish the Korean people well” during the summit, which is also expected to have a heavy focus on North Korea’s arsenal of nuclear weapons.

“We are hopeful that talks will achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean peninsula,” the statement read. “The United States appreciates the close coordination with our ally, the Republic of Korea, and looks forward to continuing robust discussions in preparation” for Trump and Kim’s summit, expected to be held in May or early June. –Fox News